As I sipped my coffee...
...this morning I watched a show about the black soldiers who fought in WWI. I was blown away by what I saw. I knew that the army segregated blacks from whites, but I didn't know that they had the blacks fighting in French uniforms, under French command.
Amazing isn't it? Apparently even the Germans were afraid of the black soldiers and the French, who had no prejudices such as ours, respected them and fought along side of them willingly.
One man in particular, Henry Johnson, saw one of his fellow black soldiers shot and grabbed by the Germans. Johnson jumped up and shot into the German platoon until his ammo was gone and then he pulled out his bolo knife and ran into the German crowd. He and the man who the Germans had shot were both carried back to their men with hideous wounds. What did Johnson receive for his bravery? A French medal.
There's nothing wrong with French medals...but wouldn't it have been nice if the American Army had recognized his heroism? That man died a pauper and was buried in an unmarked grave.
These men were from the 369th Regiment, lead at the time by a man named James Reese. The 369th was a band when not fighting. Reese wanted his band to have a good woodwind section and he thought that Peurto Rico had the best woodwind players so he recruited them. Can you imagine? A Puerto Rican American, now from New York and speaking Spanish, fighting in a French Uniform.
The Germans respected the blacks enough to give them the nickname "Hellfighter's". It seems as though everyone except the Americans thought that the blacks were a formidable force and they proved it over and over again on the battlefield.
A soldier named James Joyce was being discharged and the guy discharging him asked what battles he had been in. When Joyce began listing his war record, the guy didn't believe him. Joyce was told, "No blacks fought on the front." So, on the back of his discharge papers, where the battles should have been listed, it said, "None". What a disgrace.
In WWII, the 369th outflew the Luftwaffe. They eventually had the very first star awarded to a black general...a man named Davis. During the Gulf War, they fought as a National Guard Unit. Since president Truman remembered the bravery of the black soldiers from his own experience in WWI, he desegregated the Army and today blacks have the exact same right to die on the battlefield as a white person does.
We seem to be able to make our army bigger, stronger and much more efficient. It would be nice if we could find a way to avoid the need for one.
...this morning I watched a show about the black soldiers who fought in WWI. I was blown away by what I saw. I knew that the army segregated blacks from whites, but I didn't know that they had the blacks fighting in French uniforms, under French command.
Amazing isn't it? Apparently even the Germans were afraid of the black soldiers and the French, who had no prejudices such as ours, respected them and fought along side of them willingly.
One man in particular, Henry Johnson, saw one of his fellow black soldiers shot and grabbed by the Germans. Johnson jumped up and shot into the German platoon until his ammo was gone and then he pulled out his bolo knife and ran into the German crowd. He and the man who the Germans had shot were both carried back to their men with hideous wounds. What did Johnson receive for his bravery? A French medal.
There's nothing wrong with French medals...but wouldn't it have been nice if the American Army had recognized his heroism? That man died a pauper and was buried in an unmarked grave.
These men were from the 369th Regiment, lead at the time by a man named James Reese. The 369th was a band when not fighting. Reese wanted his band to have a good woodwind section and he thought that Peurto Rico had the best woodwind players so he recruited them. Can you imagine? A Puerto Rican American, now from New York and speaking Spanish, fighting in a French Uniform.
The Germans respected the blacks enough to give them the nickname "Hellfighter's". It seems as though everyone except the Americans thought that the blacks were a formidable force and they proved it over and over again on the battlefield.
A soldier named James Joyce was being discharged and the guy discharging him asked what battles he had been in. When Joyce began listing his war record, the guy didn't believe him. Joyce was told, "No blacks fought on the front." So, on the back of his discharge papers, where the battles should have been listed, it said, "None". What a disgrace.
In WWII, the 369th outflew the Luftwaffe. They eventually had the very first star awarded to a black general...a man named Davis. During the Gulf War, they fought as a National Guard Unit. Since president Truman remembered the bravery of the black soldiers from his own experience in WWI, he desegregated the Army and today blacks have the exact same right to die on the battlefield as a white person does.
We seem to be able to make our army bigger, stronger and much more efficient. It would be nice if we could find a way to avoid the need for one.
posted by Meg Kelso | 3:48 AM
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